It is a requirement to take into account the maintainability and reparability of the structures and systems installations in the design of aeronautical fuselage.
These considerations cause that, on many occasions, structural elements have to be dimensioned larger than it would have been necessary without these requirements. That leads to an increase of weight.
The minimum width according to the repairing method to be used and according to future operations to be performed in a damaged structure has to be considered when dimensioning the width of the foot of the stringers. The most critical method of repair is the inner repair of damage in the skin of the fuselage of an airplane when the damage has been caused between two adjacent stringers.
Current methods of designing the stringers of the fuselage of an airplane select the width of the foot of the stringers making that width depend on a length equivalent to the distance from the riveting point to the edge of the foot of the stringer. This distance is determined by the design principles defined for this purpose.
The width of the foot of the stringer is also designed according to the radius of the foot, the tolerance of the radius of the foot, the thickness of the stringer, and the diameter of the rivet.